The present invention is generally related to a detachable assembly that aids fishermen their quest for catching and/or cleaning fish. More particularly, the present invention relates to a portable station capable of being mounted onto a fixed element of a boat and is used for cutting bait, cleaning fish, baiting hooks, cleaning fishing equipment, and washing hands.
Fishermen often want to clean recently caught fish while on their boats. To that end, fish cleaning devices that permanently or temporarily attach to a boat have been disclosed before. Both U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,561,043 and 3,668,739 disclose a fish-cleaning device that is mounted to the user's boat. U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,338 discloses a mountable trough that allows the user to clean the fish in the trough and then push waste matter out the sides. U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,212 describes a V-shaped minnow tank topped by a cutting board that features a clamp to hold the fish. More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 6,554,691 disclosed a device composed of a net within a frame used to clean fish.
Most of the prior art focuses solely on fish cleaning, and bait cutting tasks. Most of these devices utilizes a sturdy container to hold the fish, or a flat surface to cut bait. However, these devices typically only performed a singular or at most a dual function. They did not provide a means to remove the fish waste, offer running water which may be used to clean fish, clean fishing equipment and wash hands. The prior art devices also suffer from teaching a uniform invention capable of being easily fastened to a plurality of boats elements thereof.
Most of the newer devices employ a net or a flat surface with a clamp for holding the fish in place. One drawback is that nets are unhelpful during fishing process because they do not offer a strong, flat surface on which to clean fish, as well as cutting the fish or bait. Another drawback is that the use of a net introduces the risk of cutting the very net that holds the fish. The use a flat surface coupled with a clamp for holding the fishing in place creates additional problems. First, it is difficult to clamp a fish in position, but due to their slippery exterior and flailing tendencies, also difficult to keep them clamped down.